


Oh Brother

by scarfy36



Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic, Batman - All Media Types, Red Hood and the Outlaws (Comics)
Genre: 5+1 Things, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Batfamily, Batfamily Feels, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-29
Updated: 2019-08-18
Packaged: 2019-10-18 19:20:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,196
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17586830
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scarfy36/pseuds/scarfy36
Summary: Jason decides to go to college. He thinks South Carolina is far enough away from Gotham that his family will leave him alone. He’s wrong.(or: 5 times Jason's brothers visit him at college and one time Bruce comes too)





	1. Dick

**Author's Note:**

> This started as a 'what if Jason gave up the superhero life and went to college' fic and turned into a sort-of crossover with the All For The Game series when I started thinking about Jason at Palmetto and how good he could be at Exy. 
> 
> Hopefully this can be read with no familiarity with the AFTG series (but it's an excellent series so definitely check it out if you're curious). Key things to know: the college is in South Carolina, it's called Palmetto State University, and Exy is a fictional sport that's similar to lacrosse. Palmetto's team are the Foxes and they have a reputation for taking on players with a trouble past to give them a second chance. This fic set the year after The King's Men in which a lot of messed up stuff happens involving various mobs and the Japanese mafia. 
> 
> Mostly though, this is about Jason and his family.

Jason is pleasantly surprised by the campus of Palmetto State University. He stares up at the building housing the sports teams and reminds himself that he wants to do this. Growing up in Crime Alley, he never believed he’d finish high school, let alone go to college. When he moved in with Bruce and saw Dick away at college he allowed himself to think about it. Then he died. Then he came back. Things had settled down in the few years since he came back to life, to the point where living a semi-normal life seemed attainable. 

His first step was becoming a legal entity again. When he explained his plan to her, Barbara was happy to help him set up his identity. She helped him study for the GED and proofread his college applications. He couldn’t exactly pay for college with cash from drug-lords, so he applied for sports scholarships, too. Jason had joined the school’s exy team during his brief time at Gotham Academy, so that was the sport he chose. Roy was happy to spend an afternoon shooting a reel to send in with his application, and then all that was left to do was wait. 

He was accepted into each school he applied to, with a few colleges offering scholarships as well, but it was Palmetto that caught his eye. The whole point of going to college was to stay away from trouble, yet he chose the school that had ties to the yakuza.

The sound of voices brings Jason out of his thoughts and he enters the building. His room is on the top floor so he begins the trek up the stairs. There are already people in his room when he gets there; he recognises them from the files he and Barbara had made on his teammates.

“Hi, welcome,” a cheerful redhead calls out to him. “I’m Dan Wilds, co-captain of the foxes. You must be one of our new recruits.”

“Jason Todd,” he introduces himself. Dan puts down the boxes she had been carrying and helps a tall man with dark hair with the TV he was holding. 

Once they had it settled, the man sat down on the couch and smiled up at Jason. “Matt Boyd,” he offered a hand to shake. Jason took it, noticing the dotted scars of track marks up his arms.

“I’ll give you hand bringing your stuff up if you like. Just need a minute to recover. Of course move-in is on the hottest day of the summer,” Matt huffs, sinking further into the couch.

“Don’t worry about, I packed light,” Jason gestures to the duffel bag hanging from his shoulder.

“That’s all you’ve got?” Matt asks. 

Jason shrugs. Some clothes, toiletries and books was all he needed to keep in the dorm. He had a safe house a few blocks away where he was keeping his armour and weapons just in case he needed them.

“Please tell me your not on the run from the mob too,” Matt sighs. Dan shoots him a sharp look. “What? He’ll find out about it soon enough.”

“I’m not on the run from anyone,” Jason assures them. Though he’s sure there’s plenty of people from various mobs who would like to get their hands on him, but that’s what secret identities are for.

 

\--

 

A few weeks into the semester Jason is on the sofa in his dorm room, reading one of his set texts when knock at the door brings his attention back to the room. His roommate Aaron is already across the room so Jason lets him answer it.

“There’s someone here to see you,” Aaron says, turning back to look at Jason with curiosity.

“Let me guess, dark hair and blue eyes?” Jason replies. Aaron nods. “That doesn’t actually narrow it down much.” He sighs and gets up to go to the door. “Dickie-bird,” he greets his older brother. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“Little wing!” Dick says in greeting. He’s smiling but it doesn’t reach his eyes. “How about an explanation as to why you decided to go to college halfway across the country without telling any of us?”

Jason rolls his eyes. “It’s none of your business what I do with my time. I’m not breaking any of B’s rules. I thought he’d be happy I’m back at school. Y’know, getting the ‘normal’ life experiences.”

“He’s so proud of you, Jay,” Dick says earnestly. “Are you going to let me in or do we have to do this in the doorway?”

Jason steps back to let his brother into the room. 

“Could you give us a minute, A?” Jason asks his roommate. Aaron obliges with a nod and Jason listens to his footsteps as he goes to the girls’ room, presumably to let them know about the tall dark haired man who showed up saying that Jason is a runaway. 

“Can we talk freely here?” Dick asks. 

“I’ve checked for bugs but I think the walls are pretty thin and my teammates are nosy as shit.”

Dick nods. 

“What are you doing here, Dick?” Jason sighs and plops down onto the sofa. Dick perches beside him. 

“You weren’t answering our calls,” Dick explains. “Which isn’t that unusual for you, so I went to your apartment.” 

Jason winces, knowing what cleared out safe houses would look like to his brother. 

“We thought you’d run off again. It scared me, Jay, thinking that you would leave without saying goodbye.”

“I’m sorry,” Jason says quietly. “I didn’t think.”

“It’s a good thing you enrolled here under your real name. It didn’t take Tim long to track you down. Welcome back to the land of the legally living, by the way.”

“Barb helped me out with that. So the whole family knows I’m here?”

“We were worried about you,” Dick shrugs.

“Worried that I’d gone back to kill- breaking B’s number one rule?” Jason censors himself. He has a feeling he’s being listened to.

“Don’t do that, Jay,” Dick says, frustration edging into his voice. “You have to stop expecting the worst of him.”

“I’ll stop expecting it when he stops thinking the worst of me,” Jason huffs. 

“He worries-”

“That’s why you’re here, isn’t it? He sent you to check up on me?” Jason rises to his feet, his hands clenched into fists.

“We’re so proud you’re going back to school, but you have a history, Little wing,” Dick says gently.

“Get the fuck out.” Jason is at the door, holding it open for his brother.

“Jason-” Dick is cut off by his brother’s glare. “Fine. Just, answer your phone every once in a while?”

Jason’s eyes drop and he stares at the floor, his face hard. He waits until he hears the elevator doors close before he looks up. The door to the girls’ room next door is ajar. He can see shadows of bodies behind the door. He was right, they were listening.

“Enough entertainment for you?” he says to the general area of the room. He doesn’t expect a response, already turning back to his room when Dan opens the door.

“Sorry,” she says. “We heard shouting, and secret past lives haven’t gone well for the team previously.”

“Previously? You guys are fucked up,” Jason huffs out a laugh.

“Want to come in and talk about it?” Dan offers. Sensing his hesitation, she adds, “We’ve got booze.”

Jason looks into the room where Aaron, Matt and Renee are sitting around the couches. Alison appears with a bottle of wine and a bottle of vodka.

“Fuck it,” he says, and steps into the room. He sits next to Matt and grabs the vodka, bypassing a cup to drink straight from the bottle.

“Gross,” Alison laughs.

He sets the bottle down and looks around at the small group. “Go on then,” he sighs, prompting their questions.

“Who was he?” Aaron asks.

“My brother.”

“You have a brother?” 

“Three - wait no, four and sister,” Jason says. He pauses, thinking, then adds, “Last time I checked, anyway.”

They looked at him strangely for the phrasing but didn’t press the topic.

“Did you run away from home?” Renee asks.

“I don’t always get along with my family,” Jason shrugs. “I wanted to go to college, but I couldn’t stay in Gotham to do it. They way they would  _ look _ at me,” his hands are clenched into fists at his sides. He takes another drink. “Fuck their pity. Dick called it pride, but it’s guilt.”

“Fucked up family? Join the club,” Allison grins, nudging her plastic cup against the bottle Jason is holding.

“You’ve got no idea.”

“Just please tell us you’re not related to anyone in the mob,” Aaron says.

Jason can’t help but laugh at the irony. “No, my family are definitely anti-mobster.” Eight heads in a duffel bag would argue that Jason was technically a crime lord, but that’s not what Aaron asked.


	2. Tim

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for reading the first chapter, I honestly thought I'd be lucky if 5 people read this so getting a bunch of lovely comments was a really nice surprise!
> 
> I've got most of this story written out so hopefully I can keep posting new chapters weekly. I've also got some other things from this universe I might put up when this story's finished, including Jason's trip to Eden's Twilight and the Foxes visit to Gotham when they play Gotham University's team. 
> 
> Feel free to drop me a prompt or just say hi on tumblr, I'm scarfy36 there and pretty much everywhere else online.

Jason is blissfully left alone after Dick’s visit. They call, and he texts back to let them know he’s alive.

His first game with the Foxes is at home. They win, but it’s close and rough and everything Jason hoped Exy would be.

He doesn’t miss the awed looks on his teammates faces when he flips over his opponents with ease during the game. It’s his impressive vertical leap that makes him so effective on the field, combined with his analytical mind predicting other players moves making him an almost unstoppable defensive player. It’s definitely not what Bruce and Talia had in mind when they trained him, but Jason is nothing if not adaptable.

He’s slow to change out after the game. He takes his time in the showers, letting the hot water pound into his tired muscles. There aren’t many of his teammates left in the changerooms when Jason finally emerges from the shower. Neil approaches him, the co-captain already fully changed. 

“There’s someone waiting for you outside,” Neil says. Jason’s face falls into a frown, already cataloguing which member of his family it could be. “Said his name was Tim, that he was your brother?” The last part comes out as a question. Jason thinks he intimidates Neil. Funny, because Neil is the only one on the team that Jason considers a real threat.

“Fucking replacement,” Jason says under his breath, then turns to Neil. “Thanks, I’ll be out soon.”

Neil nods and leaves. Jason begrudgingly finishes getting dressed and heads out.

“Replacement,” he greets his brother. “What brings you to South Carolina?” He tries to keep his tone light for the sake his teammates milling about, but he knows Tim can see the rage in his eyes.

“I had a meeting today for WE,” Tim shrugs. “Thought I’d stick around to check out your game. Nice dye-job, by the way.”

“How convenient,” Jason rolls his eyes, ignoring the last comment..

“Jason,” Matt calls over to them. “We’re getting food at the diner, you coming? Bring your brother!”

“I am kind of hungry,” Tim says, looking to his brother for permission.

Jason studies Tim for a moment, then says, “fuck it,” and tells Matt that they’ll meet the group at the diner.

The rest of his team get there first, so Jason and Tim join their table. It’s a booth, which is a nightmare for strategic positioning, but he doesn’t bring attention to it. He simply slides in next to Neil, letting Tim take the outside seat.

Matt looks at him, expectantly. It takes Jason a moment to realise they’re waiting for an introduction.

“This is Tim,” he says. “Tim, the team.”

“Is this another brother?” Dan asks with a grin.

“Sure am,” Tim matches her expression. “It’s so nice to meet all of Jason’s friends.”

“Do you have any embarrassing baby photos? Or stories? He hasn’t told us anything,” Nicky prompts.

Tim hesitates, looking to Jason.

“We’re adopted. Tim didn’t come along until after I di- moved out,” Jason says flatly, hoping no one noticed his hasty correction. “We only really met a few years ago. I suppose Dick has some photos from when we were younger, but he wasn’t around that much.”

“Huh,” Matt says, processing the information.

“That doesn’t mean I don’t have any embarrassing photos, though,” Tim breaks the tense silence, pulling out his phone. He scrolls through his camera roll, his face lighting up when he reaches what he was looking for. “Our younger brother has a lot of pets. Whenever Jason visits, they follow him everywhere and it drives Damian mad.”

Tim passes around his phone, showing the group photos of Jason in various rooms of the manor looking like Snow White with Damian’s cat, dog, and - in one case - cow trailing behind him.

Dan, Nicky and Alison find the photos hilarious. “Please send me a copy of these,” Alison says, her eyes locked on Tim.

“Gladly,” Tim smirked.

“It’s like having another Steph,” Jason despairs, then turns to Tim with wide eyes. “Don’t even think about introducing them. It’s been nice having some peace and quiet.”

“Who’s Steph?” Nicky asks.

“Tim’s ex-girlfriend.”

“She’s also best friends with our sister, Cass.”

“How many siblings do you have?” Renée asks. “Jason doesn’t talk about your family.”

“It’s a complicated family,” Tim shrugs. “Dick’s the oldest, then Jason. Cass is the next oldest, but I was adopted first. Damian’s the youngest and Bruce has recently taken in Duke, who is older than Damian but younger than me.”

The group seem satisfied with Tim’s answer and quickly move on to talk about the rest of the Exy season. Later, when the group starts to disperse, Tim gets a chance to talk to Jason alone.

“I hope you can come to another game, Tim,” Alison says. 

Tim looks to Jason to gauge his reaction. “I’d like to, but I don’t when I’ll be able to. Between school and work I don’t get a lot of free time.”

“You could make it a family trip - we’d love to meet the other brothers, and your sister,” she continues.

“That’s not a good idea,” Jason says.

“Y’know Bruce has been saying he wants to come to a game,” Tim says slowly.

“That’s a terrible idea.”

“Which I why I talked him out of coming today,” Tim nods.

Jason looks at him strangely. “Thanks.”

“But he won’t stay away forever,” Tim continues. “And I know Dick wants to come back - I think even Damian misses you, even if he’d never admit it.”

“Demon spawn misses me?” Jason scoffs. “Have you hit your head recently, Replacement?” 

The rest of the team make their way outside, seeming to sense the tension between the brothers.

Tim looks at Jason expectantly.

“Bruce knows I don’t want to see him, why do you think I’m in South fucking Carolina?” Jason tries and fails to keep his voice down. “If I wanted to talk to him, I know where to find him.” Tim opens his mouth to speak but Jason cuts him off in a low voice, his Red Hood voice. “Don’t think I don’t know that you’re keeping tabs on police records around here too. I know he doesn’t trust me, but I haven’t broken his goddamn rule and I don’t appreciate you and Dick checking up on me.”

“Jason-” Tim starts.

“No,” Jason cuts him off. “We’re done talking about this. You can stay the night if you need to, but if you bring up Bruce again I will not hesitate to show you exactly why people fear the Red Hood.”

“Okay,” Tim nods. “Duly noted.”


	3. Damian

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... been a while, hasn't it? Thanks for all the lovely comments, and enjoy!
> 
> (Also, I picture Sharon Belle as Dan but I recently re-read the books and Dan has short brown hair, not long red hair like I pictured, but I’d already written the joke about Dick’s love of redheads so just go with it)

Jason feels his phone vibrating next to his pillow and reaches blindly for it, fumbling under the covers. He opens his eyes just enough to see who’s calling before answering. 

“Hey demon brat,” he greets his youngest brother, his voice rough from sleep. 

“Todd,” Damian greets back. 

“Why are you calling at-“ Jason lifts the phone to check the time “-three in the morning? Is everyone okay?”

“Everyone is fine. I’m on patrol and it’s a slow night, so I decided to call you to pass the time. Father and Grayson worry about you.”

“Right,” Jason says. He decides he needs to be slightly more awake to talk to Damian, so gets out of bed and goes out into the living area. He closes the door behind him to give him a semblance of privacy, though if his roommates are awake they’re sure to be eavesdropping. “You can tell B and Big Bird that I’m fine. I’m even sleeping normal people hours- or, I was until you woke me up.”

“Tt-”

“Why are you really calling, Damian? Are you sure everything’s okay?”

“Fine,” he huffs. “I’m impressed by the sport of Exy. I would like to watch one of your matches but Father insists that I should not travel alone.”

“You could come with Tim the next time he- wait, no that’s a terrible idea. I guess Dick could take you? I can probably tolerate him for a day.”

“Excellent, we’ll be at your next game.”

“My next game? How long has Dick been planning this? Getting you to call me is low.”

“Actually it was my idea. You never answer Grayson’s calls but I correctly predicted you would pick up for me.”

“Clever,” he concedes. “Fine, I’ll see you and Dick this weekend. But let’s not make a habit of this, okay?”

“That won’t be a problem. Farewell, Todd.” And with that Damian hangs up. Jason stares at the screen for a moment, and when he looks up Matt is walking past him.

“Sorry if I woke you, Damian doesn’t understand that some people sleep.”

“It’s fine,” Matt nods, standing at the sink now. “Just getting a drink.” Matt sets the glass on the counter and returns to the bedroom. Jason realises he’s still standing in the middle of the living room in only his boxers and hastily follows Matt back to the bedroom where warm blankets are waiting.

\--

The morning of the game arrives and Jason can’t sit still. He has nervous energy coursing through him waiting for Dick and Damian to arrive. He’s getting used to seeing Dick but Damian has always been a wild card. They have a lot in common, but Jason doesn’t know how much - if anything - Damian remembers of Jason’s time with the League.

He can’t focus in his classes, instead he spends the time coming up with ideas for modifications on his armour and helmet. Lunch with the team isn’t much better, and it doesn’t go unnoticed that he’s not following the conversation.

Dan gives him a meaningful look as they leave the cafeteria and he hangs back to talk to her.

“You seem antsier than usual, Jason,” Dan notes. “The Longhorns shouldn’t be too much of a challenge and you’ve been playing really well.”

“Thanks, but it’s not that,” Jason says. “My brothers are coming to visit.”

“Dick and Tim?”

“Dick and Damian.”

“That’s the youngest one, right?”

Jason nods. “You know how you told me not to underestimate Andrew because he’s the size of a teacup? Damian’s like that.” 

“That bad?”

“It’s probably not a good idea for them to be in the same room,” Jason says. “I should probably give Damian a heads up about Neil, too.”

“Is it safe for him to come here?” Dan asks. “You’re this worked up before they even get here, I can’t imagine it’ll get better when they arrive.”

“It will, actually. I just-” he runs a nervous hand through his hair, “I need to talk to Damian about something and I don’t know how he’s going to react. I’ll have it sorted by game time.”

Dan doesn’t look convinced but she nods anyway, dismissing him go to his afternoon classes.

\--

Jason heads straight to the stadium after his afternoon classes. Dan had mentioned her concern to Matt, so he volunteered to keep him company. He knows better than to try to push for Jason to talk, but he also knows the difference a grounding presence could make. They sit in the lounge in silence for a while, Jason reading a paperback novel and Matt watching game highlights on the wall-mounted TV.

“You going to answer that?” Matt asks, breaking the silence after the third call lights up Jason’s phone. 

Jason peers over the paperback he’s reading to check the caller ID. His face remains blank and his eyes return to the page in front of him as he says evenly, “no.”

“You don’t think it might be important?” Matt asks. “I just mean, when someone calls four times in a row it’s usually because of something urgent.”

Jason makes a show of rolling his eyes and makes eye contact with Matt as he swipes the screen to answer the call. 

“Yes,” he begins. Matt takes note of the short, sharp sentences Jason uses. “Correct. It was Dick’s idea. He’s your kid, I can’t stop him- leave her out of this! I’m not- talk to Dick.” He presses the screen sharply to end the call then tosses his phone across the room. It skids to a stop in front of Matt, who picks it up and places it on the arm of the couch beside him. 

It lights up again and from this angle Matt can see the caller ID, which reads only the letter ‘B’. Jason shoots him a look daring him to say something. Valuing his life, Matt stands and excuses himself to find some team statistics to read in Wymack’s office.

\--

Dick and Damian arrive late in the afternoon, going straight to the stadium as per Jason’s instructions.

“Thanks for giving us a tour of the stadium,” Dick says, beaming. Jason wants to be annoyed, but Dick is too cheerful to be mad at for long. He’s showing them the players lounge when Dan walks in and makes a beeline for them.

“You must be Jason’s brothers. I’m Dan, co-captain of the Foxes,” she introduces herself.

“It’s nice to meet you, Dan,” Dick smiles.

“No,” Jason says. He flicks Dick on the arm. “No.”

Dan looks at them, clearly confused. 

“Dick has a thing for redheads,” Jason explains.

“I could say the same about you,” Dick snaps, blushing red to match Dan’s hair.

“Barbara, Kori, Cheyanne, I know you had crushes on M’Gann and Wally-” Jason says at the same time Dick says, “You were awfully close with Roy and Kori-”

They stop when Dan bursts into laughter. Dick looks embarrassed, but Jason just grins.

“There is no doubt that you are brothers,” Dan says, once she has calmed down enough to speak. “But back up a second - is Kori a guy or a girl? If it's a girl you're winning me a lot of money.”

Dick pauses for a moment, looking at Dan strangely. “A girl.”

Dan grins and shouts over her shoulder to Alison and Nicky, who were now entering the lounge. “You owe me fifty bucks! Jason’s bi.”

“You bet about that?”

“We bet about everything,” Allison shrugs.

“How juvenile, gambling money on your teammate’s sexualities,” Damian rolls his eyes. Dan and Alison startle at the sight of him, neither of them having noticed he was in the room.

Damian mutters under his breath in Arabic about their childish and inappropriate behaviours.

“You know I can understand that, right?” Jason says. 

“You speak Arabic?” Damian asks, eyebrows raised.

“I spent, like, a year with your mom and the League after I came back - wait, you didn’t know that?”

“The League has a lot of secrets. I presume there was a good reason Mother kept it from me.”

“Damian’s mother is from Nanda Parbat and his first language is Arabic,” Dick explains for the confused Foxes. “He speaks Arabic when he doesn’t want us to know what he’s saying.”

“We get that,” Allison says, rolling her eyes.

“Nicky and some of the guys do that here too. You’d think French and German were secret codes the way they use them,” Jason scoffs.

“How many languages do you speak, Jason?” Nicky asks, an eyebrow raised in curiosity.

“Six.”

“His Russian is terrible, though,” Dick adds.

“I should probably give the others a heads up that you know German and French,” Nicky says sheepishly.

“Knowing Neil and Kevin, they’ll want to use it on the court,” Jason huffs.

“Speaking of the court,” Damian says, “you said you would show me how to play.”

“Come on then, squirt,” Jason replies, leading the way to the changing rooms. “The twins aren’t much bigger than you so you can borrow their gear.”

“Jason!” Dick squarks, hurrying after his brothers. “You didn’t mention this. Are you sure it’s a good idea?”

“No,” Jason says easily. He rummages around the storage cupboards to find spare gear and passes it to Damian. 

Within a few minutes Jason and Damian are changed and Jason leads the way to the court, grabbing their racquets and a bucket of balls on the way. Dick joins them on the court, but stands off to the side with his arms folded across his chest in disapproval. Damian stands at the foul line and weighs the racquet in his hands, swinging it back and forth to get the feel for it.

“Do we really need to give Damian an excuse to be more violent?” Dick asks.

“Probably not, but I have a feeling it’ll be fun,” Jason shrugs, then, seeing Dick’s disappointed frown, he adds, “maybe he’ll want to go to school if he can join the Exy team?” 

Dick sighs heavily in response, but his posture relaxes so Jason takes it as a signal to move on.

“You’ll want to hold it a bit higher for better control,” he tells Damian. “It’s not a sword.”

“Clearly,” Damian huffs, adjusting his grip.

Jason gestures to Dick to pass them a ball from the bucket.

“We’ll start with the basics, catching and passing,” Jason says, tossing the ball into the air. He catches it neatly in his racquet and passes it in a long arc to Damian, who misses by a few inches. “It takes practice,” Jason continues, taking another ball from Dick. “There’s a wall in the cave that’s perfect for rebounding and practicing your aim. I spent hours there when I first started playing Exy. Ask Bruce, he can show you the one I mean.” It takes Jason a moment to realise that he had just spoken fondly of Bruce. Veering the conversation in a different direction, he hastily adds, “the literal bats didn’t appreciate it though, so watch out for guano.”

Damian lets out a huff that Jason takes as his version of laughter and they fall into an easy rhythm of catching and passing. Once Damian gets the hang of that, they practice rebounding off the plexi-glass and try some shots at goal. 

Dick’s phone rings during their last set of drills and he excuses himself to answer it. Jason takes this opportunity to speak with Damian alone.

“Good work, squirt,” Jason says, fetching the bucket to collect the balls strewn across the court. 

Damian makes a sound of annoyance at the nickname but Jason notices the way he holds his chest higher with the compliment.

“Damian,” Jason says, steeling himself to bring up the difficult topic. “You were surprised earlier, when I told you that I spent time with the League.” Damian pauses in collecting the balls, his body tensing. “Talia took me in after I came back. She found me and brought me to Nanda Parbat where she trained me for about a year. I guess I wasn’t making enough progress, because she threw me in the Lazarus Pit. I barely remember anything from before that and the first few months afterwards are a blur.” The balls on the court have been forgotten and Damian is drinking in Jason’s every word. “Things come back to me sometimes, in flashes and hazy memories. I think she tried to keep us separate, but I remembered something new recently, and I saw a child. I think it was you.”

Damian is silent, but Jason can see from his face that he’s stirred up something deep. Jason moves to start collecting the balls again when Damian speaks. 

“Do you still speak with her?” His voice is softer than Jason has ever heard it. Jason is reminded that Damian is, despite everything that has happened in his life, a fourteen year old boy. Only a year older than he was when Bruce took him in. Only a year younger than he was when he died.

“Yeah,” Jason nods, matching his voice to Damian’s softness. “Not often, but I can reach her if I need to. She let’s me know when she’s stateside.”

Damian nods but doesn’t speak again. Jason clears his throat and suggests they get changed and find Dick.

\--

Dick is accompanied by Andrew when Jason and Damian return from the changing room. They’re sitting silently on opposite sides of the room.

Jason glances between them curiously but ignores the tension. “Are you two getting food before the game? The rest of the team will here soon.”

“Yes,” Dick reluctantly looks away from Andrew to answer his brother. “We saw a Thai food place on our way in.”

“This is the one who came up against the yakuza?” Damian asks, staring at Andrew.

“Damian,” Dick warns.

“But not the one who had the murder trial?”

“Damian!” Dick snaps.

“They’ve both killed people, but yes it was Aaron, not Andrew on trial,” Jason answers calmly.

That catches Andrew’s attention. His eyes snap up to stare at Jason. 

“Don’t talk about shit you know nothing about,” Andrew says, a clear warning in his voice.

“Jason, you’re not helping,” Dick sighs.

“Shh,” Jason swats at Dick. “I want to see this play out. They’re both so tiny and vicious.”

“Nope!” Dick declares. “Damian, we’re going to get dinner. Good luck in the game, Jason. We’ll catch up with you afterwards.”

“But-” Damian tries to protest.

“Damian!” Dick repeats, but all Jason hears is ‘Robin’.

Damian obeys, following Dick out of the room with a scowl.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> say hi on tumblr, I'm cronanlynch


	4. Dick (again)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Surprise, another update!
> 
> Also, I’m Australian so I don’t really know how college sports seasons work. I’m pretty sure they don’t play in April, but just roll with it for the sake of the story.

Jason hadn’t checked the draw closely when the season began, taking things week by week instead. He hadn’t realised they had a game scheduled for April 27th until a few weeks beforehand. Upon realising the date he sought out the coach.

“I can’t play in the game on the 27th,” he says bluntly, leaving no room for misunderstanding.

“I’m going to need a reason,” Wymack says, raising a curious eyebrow at him. “You can’t skip games without a good excuse.”

“Personal reasons.”

“Is it something to do with the Trojans? If you tell me what it is I’m sure we can sort something out.”

“It’s not that.”

Wymack doesn’t look impressed. He doesn’t say anything, waiting for Jason to give him a real excuse or leave.

“It’s the anniversary of my mother’s death,” Jason says eventually. It’s not a lie, but it’s certainly not why he can’t play. “Every year I visit her grave and go to her favourite restaurant in Gotham.” That part is a lie, but he needed to sell the excuse to Wymack.

Wymack studied him for a moment before nodding. “Fine, but you’re not slacking off from training. You think you can fit in a workout every day while you’re gone?”

“Yeah,” Jason nods. “I can manage that.” Another lie. He has a date with a bottle of whiskey and his safehouse planned.

\--

There’s someone pounding on his door when Matt returns to his dorm between classes. Upon closer inspection, it’s one of Jason’s brothers.

“Here,” Matt offers, opening the door. “I’m assuming you’re looking for Jason. It’s Dick, isn’t?”

“Yeah,” Dick nods. “He’s not picking up his phone and I really need to make sure he’s okay today.”

“He was gone when I got up this morning, and I heard he asked Coach to bench him for tonight’s game. What’s so special about today?”

Dick dials his phone again and frowns when he sees Jason’s phone light up on the table in front of him.

“It’s a very hard day for Jason,” Dick says, picking up Jason’s discarded phone. “He shouldn’t be alone today. I can’t believe I forgot it was coming up.”

Dick had been cheerful and light whenever he had visited previously. This time, Matt was met with a completely different person full of concern, frustration and anger.

“I can help you look it you like,” Matt offers.

“Thanks, but I’ve got it,” Dick says with a sad smile. “Good luck with the game tonight.” Dick has already pulled his phone out again and is speaking with someone before Matt can reply. Matt doesn’t want to invade his privacy, but he is curious as to where his roommate is, so he listens in on Dick’s phone call as he walks down the hallway.

“Hey Tim, can you check if Jay has made any real estate purchases in South Carolina? … Yes it’s the 27th already ... I know, me too, but we’ve been busy- really? ... That’s only a few blocks from here. I’ll let you know what I find, thanks Tim.”

\--

“He’s not here,” Dick sighs, frustrated. He spots Jason’s helmet and a few empty boxes of ammo on the table. “He has been, though. His Hood is here.”

“So we know he’s not on patrol then,” Tim replies through the line.

“Are there any bars within walking distance of here?”

“There’s a dive bar two blocks over. I’m sending you the address now.”

“Thanks Timmy, I’ll keep you updated.” Dick ends the call and heads back out the door. He walks the two blocks to the bar Tim told him about and takes a deep breath before he goes in. He doesn’t know what state he’ll find his brother in.

It’s easy to find Jason in the bar, there’s only a half dozen patrons inside. Jason is slumped over the bar with a line of empty glasses in front of him. Dick gives him a once over as he approaches his brother. He’s happy with what he sees- until he spots the shape of a gun tucked into the back of Jason’s jeans. Dick quickly reassess the room. None of the day-drinkers look like they’ll provoke Jason and there are multiple exits for the civilians to evacuate if needed.

Dick approaches Jason slowly, giving his brother plenty of time to notice him. He knows better than to surprise Jason when he’s in this state.

“Hey, Little Wing,” Dick says softly.

“Fuck,” Jason swears. He lifts his head to look at Dick. “What are you doing here?” He’s not as angry as Dick had expected. He counts it as a win that Jason hasn’t punched him yet.

“I know what today is and I want to be here for you,” Dick explains. “How about we go back to your place? I’ll even buy you a bottle of whatever you’re drinking here.”

“Whiskey. Fine.” Jason stands, unsteady from the alcohol. He bumps into the man in the next seat along and Dick’s hopes of leaving without a scene vanish.

The man stands up angrily and shouts at Jason, who wordlessly clenches his fist and hits the man. Dick manages to grab hold of Jason’s other arm before he can grab the gun. He holds both of Jason’s arms for good measure and half-drags his brother outside.

“Jeez, Jay,” Dick says. He lets Jason go as soon as they’re safely outside and he’s determined that the man inside wasn’t going to follow them. When it becomes clear that Jason isn’t going to say anything, Dick continues, “I’m going to go pay your tab and get you another bottle. Please be here when I get back.”

Jason’s reply is to cross his arms over his chest and lean against the wall of the building. Dick takes that as agreement and goes inside. The bartender informs him that Jason had been there since opening and that he hadn’t said a word other than to order. Dick tips him generously and returns with a full bottle of whiskey to get in his brother’s good graces.

When Dick gets back outside, Jason is exactly where he told him to be. Good. 

They walk in silence back to Jason’s safehouse. Once they’re inside, Dick watches as Jason takes off his jacket, removes the gun from the back of his pants, grabs the bottle of whiskey from Dick’s hands and sits down on the floor of the main room. Jason uncaps the bottle and takes a drink. 

Dick moves to sit beside him but Jason speaks again. “Don’t.” Dick braces himself for a fight, for Jason to start shouting for him to leave and using force when he doesn’t. Instead Jason continues in a quiet, broken voice. “Stay, if you want. Just don’t…” 

Dick nods and sits on the couch, taking in the space around him. He can see a mattress and bedframe through one door, and the porcelain of a toilet and sink through the other. The main room consists of a small kitchen, a table with some chairs, and the living area with its shabby couch and old TV. There are storage lockers lining the wall beside Jason. Dick tries not to think too hard about the kinds of weapons that are in there.

When it starts to get dark Dick offers to order pizza. Jason pats his pockets for his phone, reminding Dick that he had grabbed it from the dorm on the off chance Jason would want it. Jason’s in no state to be calling anyone, so Dick orders the pizza and then takes it upon himself to check for missed calls and messages on Jason’s phone. There’s dozens of calls from him and Tim from earlier in the morning, along with a voicemail from Talia and a surprisingly touching text from Bruce acknowledging the significance of the day. There’s also a number of calls and panicked texts from Roy. Dick had known that they had grown close during their time working together, but Dick wasn’t aware that Roy knew just how much the day would affect Jason.

“Roy has been calling,” Dick says, holding Jason’s phone up in explanation. “He seems concerned about you today.”

“Firstly,” Jason says, his speech slightly slurred from the alcohol he’s consumed, “it’s rude to go through other people’s phones. Secondly, Roy gets it, the whole disappointing fuck up ex-sidekick thing.” Dick wants to correct his brother about being a disappointment, but knows he’ll be ignored. “Roy’s good people,” Jason adds, a small smile on his face as he thinks of his friend (possibly more-than-friend, Dick’s not sure exactly how close the Outlaws were).

“I’m going to text him to let him know you’re okay, is that alright?” Dick asks lightly. 

“Whatever,” Jason shrugs. Dick takes that as approval and pulls out his own phone to text Roy. He guesses his explanation wasn’t enough when his screen lights up with an incoming call moments after he sends the text to Roy.

“He’s fine, Roy. I’m with him,” Dick answers the call. Jason looks up at him but doesn’t say anything. 

“ _ I feel terrible, I didn’t realise the date until today. How’s he doing? _ ”

“I found him in a bar and brought him to his safehouse earlier. He’s just been here drinking and throwing darts ever since.”

“ _ Okay, _ ” Roy says. Dick thinks he hears relief in the other man’s tone. “ _ I’m on my way, can you send me the address of the safe house? _ ”

“You don’t have to come,” Dick assures him. “I’ve got things under control, really.”

“Roy’s coming?” Jason asks.

“ _ I’ll be there in two hours, maybe less _ ,” Roy says and then hangs up, giving Dick no opportunity to argue.

“He wouldn’t take no for an answer,” Dick says, his tone apologetic. 

“S’fine,” Jason says, surprising Dick. Dick had expected his brother to kick off, demanding he be left alone. Either Jason was doing a lot better than he had thought or his brother had gotten  _ really  _ close with Roy during their time working together. Maybe both.

\--

“Hey, Jaybird,” Roy says softly, standing in front of where Jason was still sitting on the floor. Jason reaches an arm up and Dick braces himself for a fight, but all he does is grab a handful of Roy’s shirt to tug the man down next to him on the floor. 

“Ouch, Jay,” Roy says without any real bite. “The floor’s as hard as your bony ass.” Despite his comment, Roy moves to sit more comfortably beside Jason, who is already curling around his friend, his head on Roy’s chest and an arm thrown over his torso. Roy doesn’t seem surprised by this development, unlike Dick. Roy strokes a hand through Jason’s hair and Dick has to look away. He knows he’s intruding on an intimate moment between the two men. 

Dick turns away to put his jacket on and collect his wallet and keys. When he looks back Jason has fallen asleep on Roy’s chest. 

“I’ll stay at a hotel,” Dick signs, opting to use ASL rather than risk waking his brother. “I’ll come by tomorrow to check in with him. Thank you.”

“You’re a good brother,” Roy signs back.

Dick leaves them, knowing that his brother is being well looked after. He’s careful to close the door quietly and once he’s out of earshot he calls Tim to update him and arrange a hotel room for the night.

\--

Jason wakes late the next morning in the bed at his safehouse. The pillow next to him has been slept on, but the bed is cool to the touch. Through the open doorway he can see Dick and Roy sitting at the small table in the next room. He starts to sit up, but the movement brings on a wave of nausea. He must have made a noise because both men look over to him. When Jason makes it to a sitting position Roy is next to him with a glass of water, rubbing his back gently.

At first he’s confused by Roy’s presence, but his memory comes back to him quickly and he remembers the previous night.

“You didn’t have to come,” Jason says, his voice hoarse. “But thank you.”

“I should have been here sooner, I can’t believe I didn’t keep track of the date.”

“‘S’fine. Not your responsibility.” 

“Dick brought coffee and breakfast, think you can stomach it?” 

“Coffee and a smoke first,” Jason says, standing with Roy’s help.

“Typical,” Roy laughs.

He senses Dick’s disapproval as he sits on the windowsill and lights up a cigarette. 

“My throat’s fucking sore,” Jason complains, rubbing at his neck. He drops his voice to a whisper and asks, “was I screaming last night?”

Roy hesitates, his eyes soft as he looks at Jason. “Yeah,” he nods. “Just calling out for Bruce, then-”

“Screaming like I was being beaten to death with a crowbar and then blown up,” Jason finishes, a grimace on his face. He ignores the look of concern on Dick’s face. “At least I didn’t remember this time.” He takes a deep drag on his cigarette and it dawns on him how insensitive it is to drink and smoke in front of Roy. “Fuck, Roy, I’m sorry-”

“Jay, it’s okay. I really can’t blame you for wanting to black out yesterday. I wouldn’t have come if I couldn’t handle it.”

Jason puts his cigarette out and tugs Roy closer to him. He isn’t good with words, so he closes the space between them and presses a soft kiss to Roy’s lips. Roy hums happily, kissing him back for a moment before settling to rest his forehead against Jason’s.

Dick clears his throat awkwardly. “Um, I guess I should head back to Gotham now that you’re doing better.” The pair at the windowsill look up, Jason with a cocky smirk and Roy blushing. “It was good seeing you, Roy. Jay, please look after yourself.”

“Bye, Dick,” Roy says. Jason simply waves his farewell.

The door closes behind Dick and Roy exhales in a rush, burying his head in Jason’s chest. “I can’t believe we just made out in front of Dick,” he mumbles. Jason brushes a hand through Roy’s hair.

“That was nothing,” Jason laughs. “I’ve walked in on him and Barb doing way worse.”

Roy continues muttering about “Nightwing” and “my best friend’s brother” until Jason has finished his coffee and needs to stand up.

“I need a shower. Care to join me?”

\--

Roy insists on staying for a few days, partly to make sure that Jason is okay and partly because he had missed his friend. Jason agrees, but reminds Roy that he still has to attend classes and training.

He goes back to Palmetto on Sunday afternoon. He’s still feeling lousy from the hangover, lack of sleep and emotional fatigue, so he’s glad to find the dorm is empty when they arrive. Jason collapses onto the couch and Roy settles down next to him. They’re content to watch cartoons on the TV for as long as the peace will last.

It doesn’t last long. Matt returns from a workout before they can finish the first episode of the show Roy has been insisting they watch.

“Did your brother catch up with you? He was looking for you on Friday,” Matt asks.

“Yeah,” Jason says. He provides no explanation for his absence or Dick’s appearance.

Matt moves to sit beside Jason on the couch, but he soon spots Roy curled against Jason’s side. Considering how much muscle Roy has, it’s impressive he’s able to take up so little space.

“Uh,” Matt starts, clearly waiting for an introduction.

“Roy,” Jason gestures to the man beside him. Jason watches as Matt’s eyes take in all the curiosities of Roy Harper’s appearance. The tattoos on his biceps, the track marks inside his arms, even the way he’s pressed against Jason when he won’t let anyone else touch him all scream ‘mystery’ to onlookers.

“Nice to meet you,” Matt says. “I’m going to go shower off.”  Jason sees Matt pull out his phone on his way to the bedroom, presumably to text the rest of the team about the strange man Jason brought back to the dorm. 

It’s not long after Matt disappeared into the bathroom that they’re interrupted again, this time by Neil, Nicky, Kevin and the twins. 

“Damn, I was hoping you weren’t back yet,” Nicky says, more to himself than Jason. “I’m planning on kicking Neil’s ass at Smash Bros.”

“It’s fine, we can go,” Jason begins before being interrupted by Kevin.

“I’m not impressed you missed the game at late notice.” As always, Kevin is focused on Exy. “We lost, by the way.”

“Sorry,” Jason says. He kind of means it, he should have given them more notice.

“Coach said you had an excuse, but don’t make this a habit.”

“Lay off him, Kevin,” Neil says. “It’s not going to happen again, right Jason?”

“Right.” Neil is looking at him with a touch too much sympathy. “Wymack told you where I was, didn’t he?” Jason asks. He wasn’t sure what to expect from the coach. He’s glad he kept his story short.

“Just me and Dan,” Neil nods.

“Wait, Jaybird, you told them what the 27th means?” Roy asks, raising his eyebrows at his friend. Out of the corner of his eye he spots Nicky mouthing ‘Jaybird?’.

“The anniversary of my mother’s death,” Jason explains, emphasising the word ‘mother’ for Roy’s sake.

Kevin nods in understanding, Aaron and Nicky look sympathetic, and Andrew just frowns, which could mean anything. 

There’s an uncomfortable silence until Neil speaks again. “Um, I’m Neil by the way,” he introduces himself to Roy. “Co-captain of the foxes.”

“Roy Harper. Me and Jay go way back.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” Neil says.

“I recognise you from Jason’s tapes. Do you play Exy? You’ve got the build and the skill for it,” Kevin asks, moving the conversation back to safer territory.

“Nah, never been a fan of sports,” Roy shrugs. “I was just helping Jay out for the day. It might be fun to learn properly, though. It’s a contact sport, right?”

Roy has a wicked grin on his face that makes Jason laugh. “I’ll take you to the court later. There’s rules against modified gear, though.”

“Do you go to college? If you pick it up as fast as Jason we could probably find you a place on the team if you transferred to Palmetto,” Neil offered.

“Thanks, but college was never really an option for me,” Roy says. “Dropped out of high school and unlike Jason I didn’t go back to get my GED. Also, there’s no way I’m moving to South Carolina. I’ve been here two days and I’m already over it.”

“We can’t all live on tropical islands, Roy,” Jason sighs, stifling laughter. 

“Yeah, that didn’t end well, did it?” Roy says. “I heard Kori’s coming back planet-side soon, actually. We should get together, for old time’s sake.”

“What could possibly go wrong?” Jason smirks. He’s about to continue when he remembers the other occupants of the room. “I’ll go show Roy the court, you guys can have the TV.”


End file.
